Damon Sams:
not guilty on every count.

What the jury decided

After roughly two hours of deliberation, the jury found Sams not guilty of all charges, including first-degree murder and firearm counts, according to contemporaneous reporting. This note describes the trial verdict; it does not assert the status of any later proceeding.

What was at issue

The State alleged that Sams shot security guard Phillip Brown after an argument at a 2021 event in Lanham. Hiller did not dispute that Sams had been at the event; he argued that presence did not establish who fired the gun.

The defense challenged the identification evidence. The reported question for the jury was whether the State had proved beyond a reasonable doubt that Sams was the shooter.